Soon after you passed through and beautiful site of Château Clos-de-Vouegot from national route of 74 (direction Dijon), you make a left turn, you will arrive at the "neat and tidy" town of Chambolle Musigny. I am always fond of having my petit déjeuner in the cafè next to Freddy Mugnier's Château de Chambolle-Musigny before I begin my day's long tasting. There is this sense of peacefulness that drawn me into this small town and the air is always smell so pure and fresh. Off course, my usual double Éspresso always taste good here (not illy, but equally as good if not, better).
Anyone who is experienced in buying burgundy know that, the most expensive village cru come from the commune of Chambolle-Musigny. That in someway signify the high standard in both the quality of the wine and it's producers. There are a total of two grand crus - Le Musigny and Bonnes-Mares (co-share with Morey-Saint-Denis) and twelty-four premier crus. Among the most noticeable premier crus are obviously, Les Amoureuses (consider and sell like grand cru), Les Fuées, Les Sentiers, Les Charmes, Aux Combottes, La Combe d'Orveau, Les Feusselottes, Les Gruenchers...etc.
In general, the soil here is less fertile and predominantly marked by limestone as oppose to clay. However, the two grand crus, which is set apart from each other at the extreme end consist a higher percentage of clay. Since the soils are more pebbly in most of the area (mostly pebble-rich Bathonian limestone), the wines are generally very elegant and delicate. For me, wines from both Chambolle-Musigny and Vosne-Romanée share the most captivating nose of all Côte d'Or. Perhaps less spicy than Vosne, but definitely cooler pitch and more mineral nuance. Chambolle might not come across as rich or velvety like Vosne, but it certainly posed the same sensuousness, with more noticeable backbone and better transparency in fruit.
For me, the "Three Kings" of Chambolle-Musigny are, Christopher Roumier of Domaine Georges Roumier, Freddy Mugnier of Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier and Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé. Despite all three have their own interpretation on how a great Chambolle-Musigny should be. However, all are unmistakably wine of this distinctive goût de terroir. Among the three, Freddy Mugnier represents the purest with perhaps the lighter and the most elegant wine of all. My favorite wine of all Mugnier is his premier cru Les Fuées, which lies on the border of grand cru Bonnes-Mares vineyard. Year-in-year-out, Les Fuées is among the most consistent wine of his portfolio and it seems to take on his neighbour Bonnes-Mares' firmess and masculine personality, with more obvious backbone than say, his Amoureuses. Christopher Roumier's wines are often marked by the fruitiness from the prefermentation maceration and the partial stalk-included practiced also make them highly recognizable in blind. Roumier's wine is unquestionably the richer most concentrated. My favorite Roumier Chambolle, is his premier cru, Les Cras. Roumier parcel of Les Cras is coming from a more marly soil. Oozing with attractive sweet pinot fruit without compromising it elegance and purity. Since his "close to a thousand dollar" bottle of Le Musigny is too far for my reach and nearly as impossible to find (only 50 or so cases made). I could only adore, and imagine how that luxury juice taste like.
Estate manager, Jean-Luc Pépin and winemaker François Millet of Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé complement each other well. Jena-Luc being an experiences sales & marketing person and having previously held the same position with Domaine Drouhin. He is undoubtedly capable for his job and largely responsible for the ambassadorship for this great historical estate. Millet on the other hand, despite his subtle personality (man of few word) has credit for his succession of former régisseur Alain Roumier (uncle of Christophe Roumier). Towards the end of Alain Roumier régime (between 1970-to mid 80s), de Vogüé was reportedly slipping in quality, making uninspiring wine despite their significant vineyard holding in this area. For whatever reason for this dark periods of de Vogüé. Today, Millet has completely restored the past high standard and resurrected the glory that once lost.
The great Henri Jayer once said,"when u taste my Echézeaux, the wine must be unmistakably Echézeaux, but equally, it must be unmistakably Henri Jayer". This is the case with de Vogüé. There is no doubt that de Vogüé has a strong signature in his wine and with some training, one could possibly identifying them in blind. You can always detect the unmistakable succulently sweetness with almost confectionery-like sensuousness. On the palate, they often display satin silkiness and gentleness over the gorgeously textured palate. Equally, there are good underpinned acidity to keep it detailed and vibrancy. The exclusive balance is unparallel and each cru posed a clear definition of their sites.
My meeting with Miller has always been filled with such anxiousness and excitement. First of all, Miller is very precise about his comment and almost, always, you can expect an answer when asked about the vinification, vintages, and his wines. He is also probably the most impressive wine descriptor I know in Burgundy. Very poetical yet accurate. He called the 2005 vintage, the "sorbet year". It has the concentration of sweetness and sensuousness, combined with energy, precision. He considers 2004 reds to be pure and minerally, especially after the malolactic fermentation, where the mineral component has becoming more evident. He once told me, no one know how exactly the acidity behave in the wine before the malolactic fermentation and each vintage, can be characterized by different mood of acidity. Example, he consider vintages such as 2001 as marked by outline acidity (contradict with it's fruits), where 2004, the acidity is more mineral. 1999 on the other hand, came across with more backbone acidity. When I met him in April this year, he continued to stood by his earlier belief that, 2003 will potentially be as great as some of the legendary burgundy vintage like 1947, which was also marked by heat. He agreed that, despite 2003 reds' low acidity (there is literary no malic acid and tartaric was largely consumed by the vine due to summer's heat), there is no "stewed" or pruney character found in his wine, which often the case with heat-stressed vintage. "In fact, our vine suffer no blockage of maturity during the drought growing condition and were all healthy, with good phenolic ripeness", said Miller. Despite De Vogüé and along with Christophe Roumier 2003 were among the most satisfying wines I have tasted from this unusual year. My early tasting from the barrel suggests that the fruit aromas are leaning towards more confiture with noticeable alcohol. Despite the subsequent tasting from the bottle shown better freshness and delineation. However, this is undeniable coming from a very ripe year, where their site uniqueness are largely overwhelm by the vintage personality. Another word, 2003 is a wine lover vintage, not a burgundy-lover year.
Anyone who is experienced in buying burgundy know that, the most expensive village cru come from the commune of Chambolle-Musigny. That in someway signify the high standard in both the quality of the wine and it's producers. There are a total of two grand crus - Le Musigny and Bonnes-Mares (co-share with Morey-Saint-Denis) and twelty-four premier crus. Among the most noticeable premier crus are obviously, Les Amoureuses (consider and sell like grand cru), Les Fuées, Les Sentiers, Les Charmes, Aux Combottes, La Combe d'Orveau, Les Feusselottes, Les Gruenchers...etc.
In general, the soil here is less fertile and predominantly marked by limestone as oppose to clay. However, the two grand crus, which is set apart from each other at the extreme end consist a higher percentage of clay. Since the soils are more pebbly in most of the area (mostly pebble-rich Bathonian limestone), the wines are generally very elegant and delicate. For me, wines from both Chambolle-Musigny and Vosne-Romanée share the most captivating nose of all Côte d'Or. Perhaps less spicy than Vosne, but definitely cooler pitch and more mineral nuance. Chambolle might not come across as rich or velvety like Vosne, but it certainly posed the same sensuousness, with more noticeable backbone and better transparency in fruit.
For me, the "Three Kings" of Chambolle-Musigny are, Christopher Roumier of Domaine Georges Roumier, Freddy Mugnier of Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier and Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé. Despite all three have their own interpretation on how a great Chambolle-Musigny should be. However, all are unmistakably wine of this distinctive goût de terroir. Among the three, Freddy Mugnier represents the purest with perhaps the lighter and the most elegant wine of all. My favorite wine of all Mugnier is his premier cru Les Fuées, which lies on the border of grand cru Bonnes-Mares vineyard. Year-in-year-out, Les Fuées is among the most consistent wine of his portfolio and it seems to take on his neighbour Bonnes-Mares' firmess and masculine personality, with more obvious backbone than say, his Amoureuses. Christopher Roumier's wines are often marked by the fruitiness from the prefermentation maceration and the partial stalk-included practiced also make them highly recognizable in blind. Roumier's wine is unquestionably the richer most concentrated. My favorite Roumier Chambolle, is his premier cru, Les Cras. Roumier parcel of Les Cras is coming from a more marly soil. Oozing with attractive sweet pinot fruit without compromising it elegance and purity. Since his "close to a thousand dollar" bottle of Le Musigny is too far for my reach and nearly as impossible to find (only 50 or so cases made). I could only adore, and imagine how that luxury juice taste like.
Estate manager, Jean-Luc Pépin and winemaker François Millet of Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé complement each other well. Jena-Luc being an experiences sales & marketing person and having previously held the same position with Domaine Drouhin. He is undoubtedly capable for his job and largely responsible for the ambassadorship for this great historical estate. Millet on the other hand, despite his subtle personality (man of few word) has credit for his succession of former régisseur Alain Roumier (uncle of Christophe Roumier). Towards the end of Alain Roumier régime (between 1970-to mid 80s), de Vogüé was reportedly slipping in quality, making uninspiring wine despite their significant vineyard holding in this area. For whatever reason for this dark periods of de Vogüé. Today, Millet has completely restored the past high standard and resurrected the glory that once lost.
The great Henri Jayer once said,"when u taste my Echézeaux, the wine must be unmistakably Echézeaux, but equally, it must be unmistakably Henri Jayer". This is the case with de Vogüé. There is no doubt that de Vogüé has a strong signature in his wine and with some training, one could possibly identifying them in blind. You can always detect the unmistakable succulently sweetness with almost confectionery-like sensuousness. On the palate, they often display satin silkiness and gentleness over the gorgeously textured palate. Equally, there are good underpinned acidity to keep it detailed and vibrancy. The exclusive balance is unparallel and each cru posed a clear definition of their sites.
My meeting with Miller has always been filled with such anxiousness and excitement. First of all, Miller is very precise about his comment and almost, always, you can expect an answer when asked about the vinification, vintages, and his wines. He is also probably the most impressive wine descriptor I know in Burgundy. Very poetical yet accurate. He called the 2005 vintage, the "sorbet year". It has the concentration of sweetness and sensuousness, combined with energy, precision. He considers 2004 reds to be pure and minerally, especially after the malolactic fermentation, where the mineral component has becoming more evident. He once told me, no one know how exactly the acidity behave in the wine before the malolactic fermentation and each vintage, can be characterized by different mood of acidity. Example, he consider vintages such as 2001 as marked by outline acidity (contradict with it's fruits), where 2004, the acidity is more mineral. 1999 on the other hand, came across with more backbone acidity. When I met him in April this year, he continued to stood by his earlier belief that, 2003 will potentially be as great as some of the legendary burgundy vintage like 1947, which was also marked by heat. He agreed that, despite 2003 reds' low acidity (there is literary no malic acid and tartaric was largely consumed by the vine due to summer's heat), there is no "stewed" or pruney character found in his wine, which often the case with heat-stressed vintage. "In fact, our vine suffer no blockage of maturity during the drought growing condition and were all healthy, with good phenolic ripeness", said Miller. Despite De Vogüé and along with Christophe Roumier 2003 were among the most satisfying wines I have tasted from this unusual year. My early tasting from the barrel suggests that the fruit aromas are leaning towards more confiture with noticeable alcohol. Despite the subsequent tasting from the bottle shown better freshness and delineation. However, this is undeniable coming from a very ripe year, where their site uniqueness are largely overwhelm by the vintage personality. Another word, 2003 is a wine lover vintage, not a burgundy-lover year.
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